Space Age Pioneer

Sep 15, 2006 7:47 PM, By Michael Molenda

           

Juan Garcia Esquivel's Martian party music was really ahead of its time.

As strange as your arrangements must have sounded to musicians at that time, was it difficult gaining their trust and support throughout these experiments?
When I started, I was very young, and I often wondered why musicians older than myself would tolerate my ideas. I was very grateful to the musicians I worked with because whenever I asked them to do something, they never refused or asked for explanations. They just did it. And most of the time, I wasn't right. If an idea didn't work, I'd write "NG" in my notes, which meant "no good." I'm very much in debt to all the musicians who put up with my ideas and helped me discover these new sounds. Thanks to them, I was 85 percent confident that my arrange¬ments were right by the time I went into the studio.

Your arrangements were not limited to notes written on paper, however; you were also very involved in the recording process.
Yes. I was always very conscious of the mics I had to use to get the sounds I wanted. I knew all the model names and qualifications of the mics. I experimented with different mic positions and which mics produced the best sound when recording strings, piano, horns, or whatever. I also insisted on putting separate mics on each instrument.

Luckily, I was able to practice in a radio station that had very fine equipment. In addition, my brother, Sergio, was the chief engineer, and he introduced me to all the microphones. I'd tell him that I couldn't get the sound I wanted, and he'd figure out what I needed.

For example, I once wanted a violin solo to play against a background of five saxophones. Of course, the saxophones overpowered the sound of the violin. Sergio advised me to put thick drapes in back of the saxophones and to put the violinist in front of a mirror. We actually built a wall of mirrors in the studio. Sergio was right -- the reflections off the mirror amplified the violin and the curtains dampened the sound of the saxes. All I had to do was move the musicians and mics around to find the right balance of sounds. You see, to get what was in my head on record, it was very important that I could arrange the instruments and the sounds.

I assume that this concern with audio quality inspired your infamous use of two different studios to ensure com¬plete stereo separation on your Sonorama records?
Acoustic separation was extremely important to me. At that time, we didn't have multitrack recorders. We recorded directly onto 1/4 inch stereo tape and I had to be very careful that the sound didn't leak from one channel to the other. When I wanted something to appear in the right speaker, I wanted it only in the right speaker. I didn't want to hear even slight ghost images of it in the left speaker.

So, yes, to record Latin esque in 1962, I asked RCA to book two studios that were one block apart. I put half of the orchestra in one studio and half in the other. I conducted in studio one and Stanley Wilson conducted in studio two, and we coordinated our efforts over closed circuit television. All of the musicians had to wear earphones so that we could keep everybody in sync by using a click track. Some people might have thought that I went too far, but I was very happy with the separation.

In addition to strange sounds and stereo gymnastics, another element that personalizes your arrangements is the use of vocalists singing nonsense words and phrases. How did you come up with that idea?
I didn't want my work to be limited by a certain language. If I were doing a Latin tune, I wouldn't want to use the Spanish words. Same if I were arranging a French or English song -- I would just strip the lyrics and have the vocalists sing syllables. For example, in my arrangement of "It Had to Be You," the vocal melody is sung "rah-rah-rah-rah-ree." One of the assistant producers objected to that; he thought that reducing the lyric to vowel sounds was too far out.

Occasionally, I'd use just a line or two. For "Night and Day," I kept the chorus lyric. In some of my compositions, I'd throw in a word like "groovy" just to spice things up, but these words would be easily understood in any country.

In my arrangements, I use voices as part of the orchestra to complement the instruments. The voice is a very dynamic instrument, and it can surprise you. When I did "The Sights and Sounds of Esquivel" stage show, for example, I used four women of different nationalities. This was to get a combination of different types and styles of singing. One woman was Japanese, one was Italian, one was Greek, and one was French. However, the real surprise was that the women would get jealous of each other and try to outdo each other singing. That made for some very exciting times -- and some very exciting performances!

So, besides keeping the singers from killing each other, what are some other skills of a good arranger?
Well, assuming that you're working with fine musicians who are able to go wherever you want to send them, a good arranger should be able to create wonderful sounds by writing easy parts. Don't overpower the musicians with your knowledge. It's ridiculous to write difficult parts just to show the musicians how good you are. The musicians should feel comfortable playing the parts so that they can sound good playing them.

For example, I'd often use the very upper or lower registers of the instruments, so I'd be careful not to tire the musicians with parts that were also extremely difficult to play.

For me, the most difficult part of arranging is self editing. It's painful when I fall in love with a certain passage I've written but it just doesn't serve the purpose of the piece. Then I must take my pencil and erase it. That hurts. You see, when an arranger starts working on a piece, he or she is usually full of ideas and wanting to put everything on paper. But, ultimately, a good arranger will only use the ideas that enhance the music.

I was tickled to hear that you are planning to record an album of all new arrangements.
Thank you. I'm writing arrangements here in Mexico while I recuperate. I really want to excite people with these new ideas of mine, so I'm arranging some well known works such as Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" and Ravel's Bolero. I'm treating these pieces with respect, of course, but I also want people to be aware of my arrangements. I plan to record in the U.S. because I'm more familiar with American studios. Now that synths are available, I will not need as many musicians as I used to, but I still want to use voices. I hope that I can find some very good singers.

I'm curious about what you must think of current artists.
I think the youth nowadays are very brave and audacious -- they have plenty of guts. Some of the things I hear are very good. I like Peter Gabriel and Whitney Houston, and Tina Turner is wonderful. But, with all due respect, some of today's music is very boring; it's just the same thing over and over. Usually, after I listen to modern music for about two or three hours, I have to switch and put on some Mancini. He was a genius and a tremendous musician. I hope that people are still listening to him.

Martian Cocktails: An Esquivel Discography
The compilations from Bar/None and RCA are wonderful introductions to Esquivel's space-age symphonettes. However, if you want the full experience, seek out the original RCA albums. Here is a selected discography of the maestro's musical madness.

Other Worlds, Other Sounds     (RCA, 1958)
Strings Aflame     (RCA, 1959)
Exploring New Sounds in Stereo     (RCA, 1959)
Infinity in Sound     (RCA, 1960)
Latin-esque     (RCA, 1962)
The Genius of Esquivel     (RCA, 1967)
Space-Age Bachelor Pad Music    (Bar/None, 1994)
Music from a Sparkling Planet     (Bar/None, 1995)
Cabaret Mañana     (RCA/BMG, 1995)